If you thought too hard about the millions watching the World Cup on television and the number of countries it's being viewed in, it would probably put you off going out to referee a match. But I would also say that in high-profile games, when you've got the adrenaline flowing, it makes you perform better because your senses are heightened and you see things more clearly. Myself, Darren Cann and Mike Mullarkey, my two assistants accompanying me to South Africa, feel as a group that's when we respond best.

The big thing about the World Cup is that it comes around only once every four years. So whereas Premier League games are important and watched by lots of people, because it happens every week and there are 10 games a weekend it doesn't bring with it the same isolated focus that you get at the World Cup.

We understand that. We're football fans and we know that it matters to people. That's why we're keen to do a good job out there.

I think the biggest difference between watching a game as an armchair referee and being out on the pitch officiating is that the little tensions on the field don't always come across on the television screen. Quite often the game will feel quite challenging on the pitch, in terms of having to work hard with players to keep them onside and to prevent any confrontations, and then you will see the game back on TV and it looks much more straightforward. That's reassuring in a way.

In South Africa we'll be watching replays of the games in a collective debrief. You come back from your venue and the next day maybe 10 incidents will be shown on a video screen and we'll have to talk about how we managed each of them. We'll be asked questions by the instructors and we'll also be asked questions by the audience. The idea is to get consistency across the 30 teams of officials.

Fifa wants to get as many people together as they can to share best practice as well as pick up on any learning points or mistakes which will be highlighted.

In the latter stages of the tournament most of the 90 officials at the World Cup will be there for the debrief so, as you can imagine, it could be quite daunting. But Darren, Mike and I have been to quite a few tournaments now and we always pick things up as we go along, so we can learn from other people's situations.

We all love football and we need to be sure we are aware of what's going on in the tournament but equally we don't want to get to saturation point where it is football 24/7. So we'll also enjoy a bit of lighter viewing of our own.

We have already downloaded some TV series. Gavin and Stacey features quite strongly and we like Peter Kay's Phoenix Nights as well as films like The Shawshank Redemption. I also have to confess that we enjoy playing James Bond Top Trumps.

Ten officials for the 2010 World Cup finals who have found controversy

Martin Hansson, Sweden, Firefighter

Failed to spot the two Thierry Henry handballs in the play-off against the Republic of Ireland

Howard Webb, England, Referee

Controversially awarded hosts Austria a penalty three minutes into injury-time at Euro 2008

Stéphane Lannoy, France, Video games distributor

Refused to note alleged racist behaviour from Milan Baros aimed at Stéphane Mbia in a match report for a game between Lyon and Rennes

Viktor Kassai, Hungary, Travel agent

Failed to punish the former Arsenal goalkeeper Jens Lehmann after he urinated behind an advertising hoarding during a match for Stuttgart against Unirea Urziceni

Roberto Rosetti, Italy, Physiotherapist

Abandoned a match between Lazio and Roma in 2004 after he was told a rumour – that turned out to be false – that a little boy had been killed

Olegário Benquerença, Portugal, Insurance agent

Officiated the Champions League semi-final when José Mourinho's Internazionale beat Barcelona 3-1. It was later claimed that the two men were friends and co-owned a restaurant

Wolfgang Stark, Germany, Bank employee

Refereed the Champions League match between Valencia and Inter which ended in a mass brawl

Massimo Busacca, Switzerland, Managing director

Raised the finger at abusive fans as FC Baden played Young Boys in September 2009

Oscar Ruiz, Colombia, Lawyer

Sued Carlos Valderrama for waving a 50,000 peso note after failing to award a penalty

Marco Rodriguez, Mexico, PE teacher

After seeing him officiate England's 2006 World Cup match with Paraguay, Graham Poll described him as a 'complete poser who showed a lot of naivety in his decision making'